A newfound simple pleasure

At many Vegas casinos, you exit the parking garage (for non-valet-users like me, anyway) and have to go down an escalator from there to get to the main casino floor. Offhand I can think of the Venetian, Treasure Island, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Suncoast--there are undoubtedly others.

Over the last couple of weeks I've done something new and different: I take the stairs. There is usually a narrow staircase located adjacent to the escalators, and it's almost always empty. Using it does several things: It gives me a little exercise; it allows me to avoid the irritation of the throngs of people who are too stupid to grasp the "stand on the right, walk on the left" concept (about which see the fine rant at http://www.vegasrex.com/2008/03/13/move-to-the-right/); and it actually gets me there faster, because even when I'm not hurrying, my normal pace on stairs beats the slowpoke escalators. Also, the escalator riders tend to look at me as if I'm nuts for not using the common conveyance, and I always like being just a bit different than the crowd.

When I'm done with a poker session, climbing the stairs actually feels great. If it was a winning day, I've got a little spring in my step to exert on the stairs. If it was a stinkeroo, the exercise is at least a little, um, exorcising. Either way, blood pumping through the atrophied leg muscles feels quite invigorating after a few hours of near motionlessness.

I recommend giving it a try.